>> good afternoon. welcome to the board of supervisors san francisco land use & economic development committee. i'm scott wiener the chairman of

the committee to my left is cohen and supervisor kim will be joining us shortly and we're joined by supervisor campos. our clerk andrea and i want to thank sfgovtv for broadcasting today's hearing specifically jonathan and jessie railroad madam clerk, any address the commission on matters that are within the commission's jurisdiction and are not on today's agenda. >> okay. we have one item on our agenda madam clerk call item one. >> establishing the latino district. >> and he item one is co-sponsored by mayor ed lee and supervisor campos. thank you and happy monday to everyone. i want to invent by thanking the

land use committee for hearing this item and also by recognizing members of the community in the mission who have been working on this for a long time. we're going to hear from some of them and you can imagine this is a very momentous and historic momentum for us and we believe this is something that will not only mean grateful to our community but sets and precedent for that the the rest of the city how we preserve is culture character of our neighbor harvey milk said this is a san francisco of the neighborhood that's true today. this features the vibrancy that is unmatched anywhere in san francisco this resolution to establish the latino district

and celebrates the richness of our culture and his and the chirping that this community has had human resources the latino culture district is described as an amended version of the resolution that includes some of those language but our san francisco port al harden said i quote is little place where you find exiled poets and colonel's who fought in losing wars unquote it's the heart of the mission district and rec this as a district is the first preservation of the latino culture district in promoting it's unique spirit the community is continuing to complete a

study and following in study we'll work to have this as a special use district like japantown and chinatown and north beach. this cultural district is witnessing rapid change different parts of the neighborhood is the fooshlthd crisis that has overtaken our city the result is the community buildings that immediate action is needed to recognize the historical and culture value of the latino neighborhood we believe this recognize recognition is important to prevent the culture designs with small businesses this is a busting enclave for latino businesses like speciality foods

and restaurants and cafes and mexico bakeries and butchers and gift shops that serves the needs of the resident we celebrate the roosevelt and others. but recognition of the latino neighborhood is important we've fought for the patterson's bookstore and cafe to remain in the business and are saddened by the workshop because of rising rents. the latino based organizations on 24th street to serve the needs of the neighborhood and promote culture those organizations include the mission education centers and mission culture center for the latino arts and the center and

the culture association and theatre among others. viciously the latino district is zinc because of it's murals on the walls of the neighborhood it has the highest concentration of the murals it was started in 1972 by the changing a chiu can and this focuses on the conflicts in central america anger over human rights violations and being a native i understand the importance of that central america has played in this community. the latino multiply events in

the neighborhood that have the community in mind throughout the calendar year within the latino district businesses and residents and arts organizations and long established nonprofit agrees collaborative to organize the events like the caesar chavez parade many of us participated in and this has xhvj grown and we're not excited to be holding this hearing as we're preparing this weekend for an event. i'm excited to be part of this today that's a step to preserve little mission and promote the mission character. the support of the community and the mayor and of the office of economic workforce development the organization the latino historical social that is all their support it mummifying and

we would not be here without them. i want to thank them so with that context i'd like to ask i don't see mr. torres so i think the mayor's office office of economic workforce development has a representative here we thank mayor ed lee and his staff for working on this important issue and co-sponsoring this resolution so with that my colleague >> thank you, supervisors. i'm here today on behalf messing investment in the latino culture district resolution this resolution honors the rich history of the latino community in the 24th street neighborhood. invest in you neighborhoods is an initial n initiative it

strilgz corridors around the city leveraging departments and nonprofits. services and programs are ronald to business needs and partnering with the district supervisors to respond to the on the ground partnerships our association gathered the support and together with supervisor campos sf heritage and the mayors initiative we worked to make it a reality. one of the principles of investing in the neighborhoods is building on the strengthens in the district and long 24th street the character of the neighborhood attract visitors and neighborhood to experience the culture and diversity of the mission. the small businesses vary from a long time starnlts that have

worked hard and the corridor is the largest latino oakland businesses in the city and a muscled of arts and organizations there. recognizing those culture assets are a not only part of the latino history but recognizing the economy is only as strong as the businesses the mayors initiatives celebs the diversities that's important to the corridor. with those goals in mind we've developed programs to reduce the vublts and taylor services. beyond the business assistance programs we have extended work and given grants to lead a input process that will develop a goal

and decision for the district it should help with the coordination and in addition the historic fund reward the agricultural heritage to develop a heritage statement. which will chronicle the history of the community by examining and identifying places and events that are significant including the landmarks around 24th street. it's a thriving difference district we will continue to support of the entrepreneurs to stay in the neighborhood and celebrate the the heritage. thank you supervisor campos for supporting this and gragsz congratulations to the

association and thank you for your contribution if drafting that resolution. thank you >> thank you. unless you folks have any questions i want to call upon mr. sanchez from the planning department and thank you, mr. sanchez thankful been working on this quite sometime this is going to have more involvement so with that, mr. sanchez >> good afternoon, supervisors. the planning department looks forward to working with supervisor campos with the culture district as always is planning department supporting the changes in the zoning controls that reflect the desires of the needs and in line with the gunmen e general welfare. some examples are the work culture districts japantown,

culture sustainability strategies and as well as the chinatown broadway example those are successive collaborations and we'll follow precedent thank you very much >> thank you very much mr. sanchez. and now eric the president of the latino program and it's hard to imagine 24th street without eric he is involved in every aspect of the neighborhood and we are indebted to him for all the work he's done and i know in many receptors this is a culmination of the work and thank you, sir fewer contributions it's greatly appreciated >> thank you david. i want to thank you for your support you know from the beginning and thank you mayor ed

lee so far being part of this and moving this forward. thank you and recognize that. it's a group of people along the corridor this latino is a merchants organization and nonprofits and others like 23 each person bricks the views of the community to make sure we're on the same package moving forward. as we know the latino community makes san francisco and the mission districts it's contributions in the economic development into the arts. currently on this we host many festivals and more. we are home to the highest concentrations of the latino

decendents and more in the culture district we're looking at. we host the highest concentration of murals in san francisco. here legacy businesses have anchored this for over 5 decades we've mentioned some the bakery and many bakeries and cafe. it includes the culture institutions that have contributed the mission center and others in dance mission. those designation will help to page our culture capital to sustain this economy sophomore for all in the mission in san francisco. please i hope you support in resolution. thank you very much >> thank you very much mr. or in question i want to call upon

another important leader in our community would has definitely been a key reason so far this happening in the way i describe her when you want something to get done go to this lady the historical society thank you, ann for guiding us throughout the progress and all the work you've done and on behalf of the neighborhood and the district i'm just very grateful for everything you do for us. >> thank you, supervisor. good afternoon. i'm here to support of the cult district establishment it's important to the community. but the reason the latino historical community was established in 2012 was to document the contributions of the latino who are in san

francisco. the objective people think we've only arrived we haven't we've been here from the beginning by people don't trillions that the america's were here trading, merchant from chile and that your and gaunt mall before 49ers came it was starting with our founding mother when mexico second ladder the land people moved north of market and the finland mother located on one of the properties and also people don't know that the latino community started around our lady of guadalupe in the 11840s

was the board changes they stopped the church and rebuilt it. because of the indocumentation of the acquiring of the land but in the 1950s the latino business community was displaced with the broadway tunnel and there was all right. established businesses on van ness and the 24th corridor in the 1940s when it began to expand but what's important to the cord is the whole chicano movement as well as the latinos in the labor market that was the leadership of abel gonzales in establishing a road into the local 261 i want

to hear right now, we're involved in a partnership with the san francisco heritage sorry. and we're continuing to document these events thank you inspires >> thank you very much and by the way, reading the resolution you learn a lot about the history of the mission and the state of california. now it is my honor to introduce ms. smith from the san francisco american. i'm sorry. and i want to say that the support of sf heritage is institutional in getting us to this part >> thank you supervisor campos heritage is proud to work with the latino historical society and the mayor's office and your

office in drafting this resolution and thank you for taking this essential first step to recognizing the significance of the community. heritage contributed to the information found in the resolution much of which is grandstanding drawn from a bilingual walking tour in partnership with the latino historical society of which you should have copies in front of if you this documented the culture district in particular of 24th street. as part of the project we've conducted the youth with the community ranging from the people in the farmers movement to the rock scene we focused on 24th be street because of it's rich history and undoubtedlyly importance to the arts seen locally and internationally it has the beloved murals and many

arts organizations including the mission culture center it continues to be a center of the artistic movements and the proposed culture district has a history associated with the latino movement and the chicano and latino labor movement to name a few. the culture district will help to recognize the culture and help to preserve the commercial corridor as mentioned by other speakers it is a community statement on latino heritage resources in san francisco. which we're corresponding with the local historical society to dissolve into the heritage of lower 24th street as well as the city as a whole.

we strongly support this district 0 resolution and look forward to working with the community and city to develop an efficient district following others models like japantown where we were heavy involved. i want to announce the first public meeting on saturday june 7th from 10 through to one p.m. thank you very much we strongly support the resolution >> thank you, mr. buell i appreciate the support. that completes our presentation of the items and colleagues, i wanted to make sure that i provided you an opportunity to ask any questions before we open it up for public comment thank you